


Suds in the Bucket

by Salmon_I



Series: To the Moon and Back [6]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Conspiracy Theories, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Rumors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 21:38:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17988980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salmon_I/pseuds/Salmon_I
Summary: “The tension between the soldiers and the police.  Your mom said anything?”Kyle frowned, thinking. “Not really.  I suppose it could just be because there's two fields of authority in such a small town.  Sort of territorial thing. I'd ask her but I think she's sick of my asking questions.”“What questions?” Maria reappeared, placing a beer in front of Kyle.“The soldiers and the cops seem to have an issue.” Alex filled her in on the start of the conversation.“Oh, that.” Maria nodded.“Wait, do you know why?” Kyle asked her.





	Suds in the Bucket

Kyle had been looking forward to his ten year high school reunion. He'd been proud of the life he'd made for himself, proud of the person he had grown into in the past decade. As cheesy as it sounded, he honestly felt like he'd become a better person. He supposed everyone kind of cringed at the memory of who they'd been as a teenager when they got older. He'd also be lying if he didn't feel his younger self was probably more cringe worthy than others were. Now, though, he was a respected doctor in the community, and he hadn't exactly let himself go in the last ten years. He was single, and the influx of people who no longer lived in Roswell visiting for a few days certainly added some new possibilities to the sad realities of small town dating at almost thirty.

Those had been the thoughts occupying his mind before Liz Ortecho had blown back into his life, bringing alien conspiracies, murder investigations, and almost unanswerable questions with her. A part of him wished he had gone on in blissful ignorance of all the things he now knew. A part of him was pathetically glad that the one thing this insanity had given him was a chance to be close to Liz again.

The further they dug into the secrets surrounding the past, though, the less Kyle was sure how much he could take. How much Liz could take. Should he tell her his latest discovery about Rosa? About their parents affair and how Rosa had been his half sister? Certainly a 30 year old affair between Liz's mother and his father was better than a ten year old affair between Rosa and his father. It still wasn't pretty, though.

His mother had dodged questions about Liz's mother. Not that he'd expected differently. His mother wanted him to stop digging into the past. A part of him did too. Noah Bracken, however, had been full of unexpected information. Michael Guerin was Isobel Evans-Bracken’s brother. And if they'd been together before the Evans were adopted and Max Evans was an alien? What were the chances his siblings weren't?

Max Evans. There was a problem of itself. His dislike of Evans in high school had mainly centered around his closeness to Liz. The only ones who probably hadn’t noticed how the two had acted around each other were probably the pair themselves. But while jealousy had certainly been part of his issue with Max Evans, there was something more that bothered him. Most of the times Evans had avoided confrontation with him. The few times they had squared off, though, there'd been a sense of something almost electric in the air. He'd been certain, even then, that Max Evans was capable of being very dangerous.

Now that he knew about Evans alien powers he was probably lucky he hadn't pushed his buttons more in their teen years. While the possibility existed, though, that he had killed Rosa, Kyle found himself believing it less as time wore on. Evans had saved Liz's life, and done something to restart the power in the hospital. Those didn't seem like the actions of a killer.

Manes seemed convinced there was an alien threat, and perhaps there was. It didn't necessarily mean that threat was Max Evans. The crash had occurred over seventy years prior. Manes had stated there was only one known survivor - but Evans and his siblings had somehow been born less than thirty years prior and that certainly suggested that more had escaped then Manes was either aware of, or was admitting too.

Had they somehow blended into human society? If that were true, it was possible Evans and his siblings weren't fully alien. Isobel was married and from certain rumors around town her husband and her certainly weren't sustaining from sex. Or hadn't been until their current separation. So perhaps they were some sort of half-alien? Kyle's head hurt just thinking about it, let alone if he tried to think about it from a medical standpoint and how close or different their biology might be, or reproductive cycles. Yah, he really didn't want to be thinking of any of the three's reproductive organs, to be honest.

If he could trace the three's history, though, then perhaps he could find out the answers to some of his questions. If they had parents who died in a car crash as Isobel had told her husband, then perhaps they, too, had been aliens. Evans had been submitted to the hospital when he was shot, so Kyle started by looking at his record. Except his record was full of holes. Heart rate and blood pressure were there from his most recent visit, but - despite being shot - he had checked himself out despite doctor recommendations. The rest of the page was pretty much a big blank. No listed allergic reactions to drugs. No PCP. No blood type. His emergency contacts were his sister and Guerin. What few previous pages were in his file showed the same. A couple of work injuries with the same almost empty page, and each time he checked himself out regardless of doctor recommendations. Isobel Evans and Michael Guerin had no files. All he really gained in the end was Evan's date of birth.

Unsurprisingly, Guerin had no social media accounts. Isobel, also unsurprisingly, had all of them. Her date of birth was listed as the same as Evans - everyone had always said they were twins so, once again, no surprises. Isobel's social media accounts had suddenly stopped being updated over a week prior. In fact, she hadn't been on them since the black out. He really couldn't tell from the comments on her page if this was an uncommon occurrence or not. Evans apparently had a Facebook page, which only seemed to see use on days like his sister and his birthday and his parents’ anniversary. His profile picture had a caption that read - 'Do I have to do everything for for you? - Isobel’. Starting to feel like a stalker he shut down the app on his phone.

The Wild Pony wasn't a place he visited on a regular basis, but with everything happening lately he decided a drink would not hurt. He spotted Alex at the bar, and hesitated a moment before heading over. “This seat taken?”

Alex seemed slightly wary, but shook his head. “Knock yourself out.”

“Thanks. Even though the black out is over, I think the number of injuries has managed to go up. It's been a rough week.”

“More like a rough month.” Alex offered in return.

“That too.”

“Kyle Valenti.” Maria came over to him. “Well, you don't normally visit my bar so often.”

“We normally don't have a high school reunion and a city wide black out within a month.” Kyle pointed out.

“Hm… I'll let you use that excuse for now. Your usual?”

“Please.” As Maria went to fetch his drink, Kyle glanced over at where Alex was nursing his own. “I'm kind of surprised to see you back at the Wild Pony so soon.”

“I have not missed the gossip mill that is small town life.” Alex admitted. “What did you hear?”

“Just that you ended up in the drunk tank and were subjected to disciplinary measures.”

“A required week long stay on base. Completed as of today. I just came to check in with Maria, really.”

“There might also be a rumor that you punched Max Evans.” He hadn't been lying when he told Noah the town blew things out of proportion, so he wasn't sure if that rumor was true or not. Or what could have caused Alex to punch Evans in the first place.

“Drunk me isn't a pleasant guy.” Alex looked thoughtful. “Interestingly enough, punching a cop seemed like something that did my reputation at base more good than my little trip to the drunk tank did bad. Know anything about that?”

“About what?”

“The tension between the soldiers and the police. Your mom said anything?”

Kyle frowned, thinking. “Not really. I suppose it could just be because there's two fields of authority in such a small town. Sort of territorial thing. I'd ask her but I think she's sick of my asking questions.”

“What questions?” Maria reappeared, placing a beer in front of Kyle.

“The soldiers and the cops seem to have an issue.” Alex filled her in on the start of the conversation.

“Oh, that.” Maria nodded.

“Wait, do you know why?” Kyle asked her.

“I'm surprised you don't. Valenti always let the soldiers know when they were overstepping their authority. I remember my mom mentioning it a time or two. It got worse after graduation, though. Your father, Alex, he backed the guy who ran against Kyle's father. After that the kids gloves came off. Valenti made it clear that Manes’ authority did not extend into his town. Things are actually less tense now than those first couple years, but your Mom has made it clear she feels the same way.”

“How do you figure?” Kyle had known about the election thanks to his mother, but the rest was news to him.

“You were at the hospital for most of the black out. Where were you, Alex?”

Alex seemed surprised by the question. “Um, my cabin mostly. Why?”

“Note you weren't in town helping out even though things got a little crazy now and then. No soldier was. From what I hear Valenti pulled in every cop she had, including favors from other towns, and told Manes to stay out of it.”

“Wow.” Alex opinioned. “Your mom is kind of a bad ass, Kyle.”

Kyle gave a small laugh. “You have no idea.” The silence that followed was strangely companionable. Considering the stilted way he and Alex had started out talking when he'd nearly broken into his cabin, Kyle was surprised to find how comfortable he felt now sitting with the two. He considered not risking it with odd questions, but Maria was a source of info he hadn't considered before. “Hey, Maria, this may sound like a strange question, but you've seen his ID before since he comes here: what is Guerin's date of birth?”

“Guerin?” Maria asked, and exchanged a look with Alex that he couldn't interpret. “I don't really remember, why?”

“Well, I heard this thing from Noah Bracken when I ran into him the other day. There were those rumors about his wife and Guerin.” Kyle noted Alex seemed to have tensed up beside him, but he continued. “He seemed really dismissive of the whole thing. I was curious why and he said Guerin was his wife's brother.”

Maria looked confused, while Alex frowned as if trying to figure something out. “You mean he said he's like a brother to her.” He tried to clarify.

“No. According to Noah he's her actual brother. Apparently they got separated after their parents died in some kind of car crash?”

Maria's face was twisting in an expression he couldn't quite interpret, and Alex's expression wasn't much better. “They’re all related? They’re triplets?”

“I mean, I guess so. They were all in the same grade as us, so...”

Maria gave up whatever attempt at a straight face she was maintaining, and burst out laughing - clutching her stomach. Alex groaned. “Maria-”

“His brother. You punched his brother cuz you were jealous.”

“I was drunk.” Alex hissed at her.

Kyle felt his mouth fall open as he quickly interpreted the words. “Holy shit - You and Guerin?”

Alex looked over at him. “Um, it's complicated?”

“They have an on again off again thing that's currently in an off and Alex wants to get back to on.” Maria offered, still giggling.

“Thanks, Maria.”

“Anytime.”

“So, wait, you punched Evans over Guerin?” Kyle asked him. “Did you seriously accuse him of sleeping with him? Evans has been crazy for Liz since we were ten.”

“I was drunk.” Alex repeated. Maria was back to laughing.

“But the rumors were about Isobel and Guerin. Oh, you didn't suggest-”

“I was drunk.” Alex interrupted insistently. Kyle couldn't help the snort of laughter that escaped. Maria was nearly cackling. “This is so embarrassing.”

“Oh, this is nothing.” Maria patted his arm. “I'm sure Evans told Guerin all about your drunk ramblings.”

“Kill me now.” Alex leaned his head on the bar top.

“Nice to know I'm not the only one with relationship problems.” Kyle took a sip from his bottle.

“Liz?” Maria asked. “Are you two together or…?”

“I don't know. I don't think she knows, honestly. She's been focused on something else.”

“Rosa.”

“She talked to you about it?”

“Just questions about Rosa. About her secrets. About that week.” Maria explained.

Kyle nodded. He didn't think Liz had told Maria the whole story. He hadn't really had the chance to talk to her long enough to exchange information since the attack by Wyatt. The news of Grant Green's electronic equipment going missing had sent her off somewhere, and here he was having a drink with who had been her best friends back in school. Wondering if it was possible to get more information out of them without telling them what was going on. Somehow asking Alex if there was something weird about the guy he was sort of seeing was not the best conversation starter. Let alone: You're potential boyfriend might be an alien and one of three current murder suspects. He'd meant what he said to Manes, however. He believed in innocent until proven guilty. So far, other than being aliens, there was no positive proof the three were involved in Rosa's death.

“I take it she didn't find what she was looking for?” He asked instead.

“I'm not sure what she was looking for. We just seemed to find more questions. Say, did either of you know any guys in school who were really into Astrology or Astronomy?” Maria was curious.

“Not in my crowd.” Kyle shook his head.

“Guerin was into astronomy. Knew the constellations in the museum displays better than I did.” Alex mentioned.

“Yah, well, Guerin was sneaking off with you at the end of high school so he wouldn't have been writing letters to Rosa.”

“Letters? Love letters?” Kyle asked her.

“It sort of felt that way. It was signed Ophiuchus.”

“I have no idea what that is.”

“The thirteenth sign of the zodiac.” Alex offered.

“Look at you remembering all my lessons.” Maria nudged his arm.

“I thought there was only 12 zodiac.” Kyle added in, feeling complete lost by the conversation.

“It's a bit controversial.” Maria explained. “But there are those that include a thirteenth sign.”

“It also means it's a constellation. All zodiac signs are.” Alex put in. “But I can't think of anyone who might have been using it as an alias.”

“Rosa was older than us. It might not have been anyone we'd have known.” Kyle reminded them.

“It’s Roswell, though. How did no one know?” Maria pointed out. “I mean, everyone talks about everyone.”

“Nobody knew about Guerin and I.” Alex reminded her.

“Which I still owe you hell for.”

“So you've been together since high school?” Kyle asked him.

“We broke up after I enlisted.” Alex admitted. “We first saw each other again around the time of the reunion.”

“Seems like the reunion just restarted everything.”

“Well, you're less of a jerk this time around.” Alex offered him.

Kyle laughed. “Nice to hear it.”

“You weren't at the reunion, though.” Maria brought up.

“Yah, something happened at work and I couldn't make it.” He’d been with Sergeant Manes telling him about the handprint and learning about Project Sheppard. Because his father's mantra had never left his mind, despite never understanding it. The more he learned of his father and Manes, the less he felt he understood it. Manes insisted his father and him were still on the same side despite their differences. All evidence pointed to the contrary, though, from what his mother had told him to Maria's input now, to everything Alex had said at the cabin… the cabin his father had left him.

'If you see the handprint, go to Manes.’

He'd gone to Jesse Manes because all he'd remembered was their two family's closeness when they were younger. Because he'd honestly believed the two men were friends.

'Jesse Manes doesn't have friends, Kyle, he has soldiers.’

'My father was my war, and your father saw it.’

'If you see the handprint, go to Manes.’

“Holy shit.” Kyle felt like the floor had fallen out from under him.

“You okay?” Alex asked him.

“I think I made a terrible mistake.”

His father hadn't been telling him to go to Jesse Manes. He'd been telling him to go to Alex.

**Author's Note:**

> When I found out Valenti had left the cabin to Alex - that was my first thought. That he hadn't been saying to go to Jesse but to Alex. It probably isn't the truth in show but I am totally running with it.
> 
> I don't usually update this fast. Lol. But I started this piece first, so most of the beginning was written. I ended up taking it in a whole other direction, though. It was originally going to be more about Liz and Kyle with only a small ending piece between he and Alex. With the piece I wrote for Liz and Michael, though, my original scenes for Kyle became obsolete for the fic. I wanted to keep moving forward and not backtrack. So instead of writing a friendship piece with Liz, Alex and Maria, I ended up writing one with Kyle, Alex, and Maria instead.
> 
> I'm a little concerned about Liz's character path right now. Especially with the preview. It's just... wow. I feel she lacks empathy? Not just for the pod trio, either. Just overall. In the early episodes her whole attitude about Rosa - until she found out she wasn't guilty - was lacking in any empathy for her sister. I don't want to write too many pieces for Liz until I see more of her character development. I'm not sure I can get into her headspace yet.
> 
> So, instead, I'm sticking poor Kyle into a three way information game between Jesse Manes, Liz, and Alex and Maria. Sorry, Kyle...


End file.
